Dear Chung Mong-gyu, president of the Korea Football Association.
You’re working hard for corporate management and soccer development. Whether it’s a company or soccer, I think you’ll often think that it’s very difficult these days.
As a reporter who has covered soccer for more than 20 years, the past year or so has been so frustrating. It was good to advance to the round of 16 at the Qatar World Cup. Many superstars, including Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae and Lee Kang-in, also appeared. Every A-match attracted a full crowd and more and more professional soccer fans. I felt like a renaissance of Korean soccer would come.
Since then, however, the situation has continued to decline. In March last year, the president was under fire for attempting to pardon participants in match fixing. Despite the self-congratulations on advancing to the round of 16 teams at the World Cup, the public sentiment was cold. Eventually, the president apologized in person, and significantly replaced the board members to smooth over the situation.
Earlier this year, huge events broke out at the Asian Cup. Korea only made it to the semifinals after a poor battle. Jurgen Klinsmann, the president’s favorite coach, was dismissed after a year. The association also had to pay a huge penalty. Fans’ trust in the national team hit rock bottom as Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in collided. The chairman only responded vaguely to the renewed pressure to resign.
Choosing Hwang as interim coach of the A-team was also an incomprehensible decision. Although the decision was made by the national team’s strategic reinforcement committee, the main members of the committee were those who bowed their heads together while the chairman made an apology to the nation. Their decision was the “chairman’s decision.” There were signs of Hwang’s recovery until he played two consecutive games against Thailand with one win and one draw, and Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in made peace with each other. However, Hwang was relatively unable to concentrate on his main job as the national team, which led to his failure to participate in the Olympics. Unfortunately, the names of Hwang Seon-hong and Chung Mong-gyu, who failed to participate in 10 consecutive Olympics, will remain in the dark history of Korean soccer.
The president’s term ends at the end of this year. It is said that the president is considering running for a fourth term. A fourth term challenge, of course, is possible according to the regulations. The Korea Football Association’s Fair Committee highly appreciates the president’s achievements, gives him a chance to run for a fourth term, and the Korea Sports Council recognizes it. However, I can’t think of any particular achievements, whether Chairman Chung has made a big achievement in his recent term. It seems unlikely that the Fair Committee will support the chairman. Even if he raises his hand, I don’t think fans will support him.
If the desire to remain in office continues, the credibility of the association will continue to decline. The chairman’s personal history and honor will continue to be damaged. In my opinion, it is a wise choice to step down quietly in good order after finishing his duties as the head of the association, such as strengthening the quality of the association for the next executive branch during the rest of his term. It will be a short but thick task to focus on solving old problems such as the establishment of the Cheonan Football Center, which has to receive bank debt, youth soccer that has not been able to touch, and ways to develop women’s soccer that has continued to suffer from sluggish performance, and strengthening the association’s administration and finances.
You have done a great job for the past 30 years as the owner of a soccer team, president of the Korea Football Association, and president of the Korea Football Association. I look forward to seeing you for a long time as the owner of a soccer team.
BY: 스포츠토토핫